Published: Friday, January 25, 2013 at 06:54 PM.

Cherryville City Council members have decided against partnering with Gaston County for police protection, but how they reached that decision raises some troubling questions.

Recently, with Mayor Bob Austell ill and absent from the council’s meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Dalton made an announcement that the city would continue to operate its own police department.

There was no public vote taken. Other council members, the mayor pro tem said, agreed that the long-term savings did not justify partnering with the county.

Without open discussion and a vote, the people of Cherryville have been denied access to the decision-making process of their elected officials. They are denied the knowledge of all information upon which the decision was made, of the opinion of various council members, of any deals that might have struck among council members, of any votes trades, of any number of questionable practices that politicians are prone to when business is conducted outside the public’s view.

Could it be that Cherryville council members are circumventing open meetings legislation by getting together and discussing city business outside of a public meeting?

If not, then how is it that the full council reached agreement? Some discussion had to take place at some time somewhere.

Also troubling is the limited information provided in the announcement of the decision.

Cherryville City Council members have decided against partnering with Gaston County for police protection, but how they reached that decision raises some troubling questions.

Recently, with Mayor Bob Austell ill and absent from the council’s meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Dalton made an announcement that the city would continue to operate its own police department.

There was no public vote taken. Other council members, the mayor pro tem said, agreed that the long-term savings did not justify partnering with the county.

Without open discussion and a vote, the people of Cherryville have been denied access to the decision-making process of their elected officials. They are denied the knowledge of all information upon which the decision was made, of the opinion of various council members, of any deals that might have struck among council members, of any votes trades, of any number of questionable practices that politicians are prone to when business is conducted outside the public’s view.

Could it be that Cherryville council members are circumventing open meetings legislation by getting together and discussing city business outside of a public meeting?

If not, then how is it that the full council reached agreement? Some discussion had to take place at some time somewhere.

Also troubling is the limited information provided in the announcement of the decision.

What is the long-term savings? The short-term savings? What’s the line between enough and not enough?

Mayor Austell, seeking a way to save taxpayers’ money and balance the city budget, rightly began looking at a possible partnership with the county before an FBI investigation uncovered corruption among Cherryville’s police officers and before the suspension of the police chief and police captain.

A provincial-minded outcry stymied the mayor’s efforts and failed to recognize the leadership he showed by looking for solutions to the city’s money problems.

When the corruption came to light with the arrest of present and former city police officers, followed by the suspensions, the city turned to the county for police protection.

The past few months have given the city and the county an opportunity to explore a continued partnership.

If that partnership is not working, Cherryville citizens deserve to know how and why. That surely would be part of the decision-making process for retaining a city-run police department.

The public deserves to know how much money could be saved – in the long term and the short term – by a city-county police partnership. The money is, after all, coming from Cherryville taxpayers.

The people of Cherryville deserve to know how each member of their city council arrived at the decision so they can consider that information at the next election.

Taxpayers deserve to know whether this decision makes good financial sense for their city or whether it’s simply a display of the turfdom that all too frequently raises its head with governments in Gaston County.

It might be unfair to accuse Cherryville’s council members of unsavory shenanigans in reaching the decision to part ways with the county on police protection. But without open discussion, in full public view, there’s really no way to be sure.